Where To Place Your Wireless Router For The Best Signal?

Nowadays, the wireless signal has become the most popular way to communicate between devices, especially accessing the Internet through wireless routers. The speed of wireless networks has increased significantly compared to wired networks. For example, some wireless routers can now offer up to 4.6Gbps transfer rate, as the Nighthawk X10 AD7200 R9000.

However, to achieve this theoretical speed, there are many factors you need to consider, one of which is the place you put your wireless router. We all know that the wireless signal will be strongest if putting your wireless router nearby. The more distance you put your router, the less signal you will receive. The wireless signal could be blocked by thick walls as well.

The signal strength of the wireless network begins to wane when the distance between your wireless router and your laptop (or smartphone) increase. If you put your Wi-Fi router in the front of your house, but your workplace is in the back, you may feel annoyed when waiting for some websites to load, or it takes too long to download files.

The wireless signal strength also depends on many other factors, such as your router, your home’s construction, your ISP … a lot of things. However, other elements are mostly hard to change, such as the texture of your house. That said, the only possible solution is to change the place you put your wireless router.

Here are some helpful tips for optimal placement of your router to get a stronger Wi-Fi signal.

1. Keep Your Wireless Router Central

You should know that the wireless signal from your router will be spread in all directions. So, if you place it next to a wall near to your neighbor’s apartment, they are the one who will get the strongest signal, not you.

Image credit: gizmodo.com.au

The location is the major key. That said, you have to find the most central position to put your wireless router. Besides, if your house has three floors, I would recommend putting the router on the second floor. By that, the signal can be spread to the third floor and the first floor better. Of course, if you have more budget to spend, using wireless repeaters or a mesh Wi-Fi system would be a better choice.

2. Replace The Default Antenna

With some wireless routers, the default antenna isn’t good enough to deliver the best transfer rate. You can try to adjust the position it heads to for the better signal. Otherwise, replacing those default antenna would be the better solution.

Image credit: net-zone.eu

Getting a pair of 9dBI antennas to replace the default antennas of your wireless router will help to boost the signal. Those antennas cost around $15, an affordable price to spend. However, before purchasing those antennas, make sure your router has detachable antennas. Otherwise, there’s no way to replace them, except doing a DIY work. Besides, choosing the best wireless router with good antennas is also a good option. If you haven’t purchased a wireless router yet, make sure you select the best one.

3. Avoid Impenetrable Obstructions

The wireless signal certainly can travel through the most type of walls. However, if you have thick walls, the wireless signal will be absorbed by the wall and lose its strength. Even worse, with some thick walls that are built from brick and concrete, the wireless signal is nearly impossible to go through.

Besides, fish tank, metal, and mirrors also can block the Wi-Fi signal. So, putting your wireless router near those things will make the signal strength weaker.

4. Avoid The Kitchen

I have never seen anyone putting a wireless router in the kitchen. However, if you are seriously considering placing your router there, I would suggest finding another place.

There are many appliances in your kitchen that can affect the wireless signal, especially the microwave. It uses the same 2.4GHz slice of the electromagnetic spectrum as your router. When you use your microwave, it is indeed interfering with the Wi-Fi signal.

Also, with a lot of metal objects like stove, fridge, and other kitchen appliances, it is reasonably best to keep your wireless router out of the kitchen to avoid those machines absorb and make the signal weaker.

What do you think about the best position to put a wireless router in the house? Please share with us the place you put it.